Our Girl Shirley

Our Girl Shirley

Fox

1939ish

Comedy

DVD
C+

Reediting of a couple of the "Mary Lou" adventures, like Merrily Yours, with a new introduction, falsely claiming this is Shirley's "first picture."  Fairly entertaining, if not as much as Merrily.  Charles Lamont directed.

Merrily Yours

Merrily Yours

Educational Films Corporation of America

October 6, 1933

Comedy

DVD

B-

Yeah, I actually enjoyed this one, with Shirley playing the bratty but likable kid sister of a proto-Archie-Andrews teenage boy, but very '30s.  (And, no, not like Andy Hardy, since Sonny is actually pretty sweet.)  True, a lot of this enjoyment was laughing at rather than with the twenty-minute long-short, but it's a good-natured flick, with one of the earliest examples of the rich blond jerky rival archetype.  Lamont directed and co-wrote.

The Pie-Covered Wagon

The Pie-Covered Wagon

Jack Hays Productions

October 30, 1932

Historical Comedy
DVD
D-

This time racist against both Blacks and Native Americans.  Hays wrote, Lamont directed.

Kid "in" Africa

Kid "in" Africa

Jack Hays Productions

October 6, 1933

Comedy
DVD
F+

The worst so far, with Shirley as Madame Cradlebait trying to civilize African "cannibals," who of course capture her, and she has to be rescued by Diaperzan, whom she marries and henpecks.  Not only cringey, but there's even less plot than usual, though this is a couple minutes shorter than the other Hays shorts.  And this time Mr. Hays directed, although Lamont wrote.

Polly Tix in Washington

Polly Tix in Washington

Jack Hays Productions

June 4, 1933

Comedy
DVD
D+

Comparatively well-written, with sharper satirical elements and a more nuanced character arc for Shirley.  Still crappy, still creepy, still directed by Charles Lamont (who also wrote).

Glad Rags to Riches

Glad Rags to Riches

Jack Hays Productions

February 5, 1933

Comedy

DVD
D

Relatively funny, such as a line that goes something like "When I come back, I'll return," but still pretty creepy, especially Shirley's rendition of "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage."  Charles Lamont directed again.

The Kid's Last Fight

The Kid's Last Fight

Jack Hays Productions

April 23, 1933

Sports Comedy

DVD
D

Less sexually creepy, but it does have kindergartners in a boxing match.  Charles Lamont directed again.

Kid in Hollywood

Kid in Hollywood

Jack Hays Productions

March 14, 1933

Comedy
DVD
D-

One of those cringey early Shirley shorts, here with her as a starlet named Morelegs Sweettrick, who ends up married (to the co-star who kisses her) and with a baby at the end!  The version I saw was colorized, which didn't help.  Charles Lamont directed, as he did War Babies, which I recall as less racist, although it's been awhile.

International Crime

International Crime

Grand National Pictures

April 23, 1938

Crime Comedy?
DVD
C-

Marred by sexism but I did think it was mildly interesting to see something from the Shadow series.  Charles Lamont directed, three years after Circumstantial Evidence.

Circumstantial Evidence (1935)

Circumstantial Evidence (1935)

Chesterfield Pictures

March 30, 1935

Dramedy?, Romcom?

DVD
C

This is so all over the place tonally-- the banter about the death penalty, the banter about working women, the romantic rival who has a freaking skull next to his reading lamp, etc.-- I was tempted to just keep watching to see where it'd go next.  But not tempted enough.  Charles Lamont directed, a dozen years after his film career started and a dozen years before the Ma & Pa Kettle series.  (This is about three years after the also strange War Babies with Shirley Temple, but much less cringey.)

War Babies

War Babies
Educational Film Exchanges (!)
September 18, 1932
War Comedy?
DVD
D+

I don't know what to say.  I knew of the Baby Burlesks series of shorts that preschool-age Shirley did and had seen a bit of one (Polly Tix I believe) in a documentary on censorship, but this is even weirder and more twisted than you'd imagine.  Still, I might go with a C- if the dialogue weren't almost incomprehensible.  Nine minutes with some jaw-dropping imagery.  (And, yes, definitely an odd inclusion for a "Family Classics" collection.)

Charles Lamont, later of the Ma & Pa Kettle series, directed.